Convince Me

Summary:
The Cullens are the ruling class of the Volturi, strict and traditional. What happens when Edward is ordered to go and meet with a new coven of 'Vegetarian' vampires called the Swans? Will he find romance with the youngest, Bella? AU!

2. Carlisle

After bidding my sons goodbye and instilling my blessing on my wife’s garden party, I retreated to the East Tower to mull over my decision safely, now that Edward was out of listening range.

I wanted Edward to be happy, that much was certain, but I was just worried how he would go about achieving that. He hadn’t seemed very optimistic at the prospect of trying to find a wife here, and I didn’t blame him. Aside from Esme, Alice, and perhaps Rosalie, the women here were relentless. Edward knew that possibly better than I, due to the extent of his power.

That’s why I had to stay away from him as much as possible in hopes that by distancing myself from him, my thoughts would remain distant as well. It was hard not to tell him the truth, but I worried how he would accept it. I had gotten very good at hiding the truth from him: he saw me as a cold ruler with little compassion for my subjects or the humans we preyed upon, and as much as I hated for him to think so, that’s how it had to be, or they would kill me.

Marcus, Caius, and Aro essentially controlled my life.

I had come to Volterra after two years of stumbling around as a newborn, repulsed by what I was but hunting to stay alive. Aro found me, and brought me back with him to the city.

They had told me they were thousands of years old, had built and established the city of Volterra, and called themselves the Volturi. They had said they were essentially the government of the vampire world.

That sounded legit enough to me, the son of a British pastor, and so I was in. As I lived and studied with them – the humans believed us to be scholars – Marcus, the ruler, became slightly suspicious of me and my ways of hunting. According to him, I was ‘too careful’ with my prey, never using my entire strength, maintaining shreds of self-control instead of completely letting go. Caius and Aro were soon suspicious as well, but Aro found a use for my ‘talent.’

They all had it in their minds that I was to be the next ruler once Marcus’ term ended, and I found myself believing them. I was eager to learn, and found I would do anything to lead this city and society. Perhaps I could use my rule to my advantage, and create a city of vampires that was not dependent on humans for survival. I had fed off an animal once, in desperation, but Marcus, Caius and Aro forced me back into a life of predation on humans. They had no notion of what I had done once, and I didn’t intend on telling them anytime soon.

So they sent me on a ‘mission’ that would utilize my talents: recruit more vampires, especially ones that might have ‘special talents.’ I did as they asked, but I told myself that I was not recruiting, but that I was creating a family for myself.

While I traveled Europe, ten years after my ‘birth’ in 1331 and eight years after coming to Volterra, I slipped back into my old hunting habits, meeting with my morals once again. I was surprised at how easy it was for me to resist human blood, even though it was all I’d drank in eight years. Animals sustained me just as well, and eventually I made a decision: I knew that I could never prey on wholly healthy humans just to serve my own purposes of recruitment, so I used what knowledge I possessed to gain the position of the village doctor in a large fiefdom in Southern England.

I remained in this post for roughly six years, but was forced to abandon it. After all, I wasn’t getting any older looking, and I had managed to recruit one vampire: my wife.

Esme had been grief stricken after her baby – which I helped birth – had died, only three days after it had been born. She tried to commit suicide, and everyone believed her to have succeeded. I was given the task of burying her, since the priest believed her suicide was the ultimate sin and would not touch her. How ironic that he was handing her body over to a blood drinker, possibly the most sinful creature ever to walk on Earth!

As I carried her into the forest, a shovel in my hand as well, she stirred. I nearly dropped her in surprise, and mentally slapped myself for not listening for her heartbeat. Her eyes opened wide in alarm when she realized she was still alive, but she promptly fell unconscious once more. I now had a decision to make: go back to the village with her, where she was most definitely going to be shunned or killed, or kill her myself. Then I remembered my mission, so I changed her on the spot, went deeper into the forest for the three days, explained to her what she now was, and stole back to Volterra with her, leaving the townspeople to wonder about my sudden disappearance. They would probably have made up a legend about us, something along the lines of her sinful ghost murdering me. How utterly ridiculous!

She was besotted with me, and I soon found myself falling in love with her. She was a beautiful creature, with long flowing caramel hair and a slim, slightly rounded figure. Her eyes were blood red, and I knew I couldn’t allow her to prey on animals or know that I ever had.

So I taught her how to hunt humans on our way back to Italy, but I could tell she detested it. She did it only to stay alive and to stay with me. I knew then I could never tell her about the animal prey alternative, for the Volturi would discover it, and they would kill us both. Only I could keep my thoughts much more secret from them.

The Volturi had been ecstatic that I had found myself a wife, which I would need in order to rule, but they wanted more. They wanted me to find myself a son, and a daughter, with special talents, since in their eyes, Esme had none.

She did to me though. She had the same strong compassion for humans as I, but she hid it well, just as I had learned to do. I found myself dreaming of a way out of this life and into one of freedom, where we could live and hunt as we pleased, but I knew we were trapped. The Volturi were much too powerful for a newborn and sixteen year old vampire to overthrow.

So I would wait for an opportunity. I had forever anyways.

Thirty years later, I returned to Volterra and my dear Esme, with, as the Volturi had requested, a son and a daughter.

I had fast discovered Edward’s talent right after I had changed him – he had been dying of the Black Plague - and we were on the move again. I had been thinking vividly of Esme’s beautiful face when he asked me if she was my wife.

I was utterly stunned and taken aback – had I spoken aloud? – but he smiled at me apologetically and explained what he could do. From then on I simply refused to think about my animal hunting days, vowing to forget it permanently as soon as I could. Edward’s talent had me worried that he would discover my secret, but I did well, and even though I battled with myself over the years about whether or not to tell my family, no one found out the truth.

I watched as Rosalie, my first daughter, save Emmett and brought him to us, and as Jasper and Alice came to us. Each of them brought something special to this life: Rosalie her tenacity, Emmett his strength, Jasper his empathy, and Alice her intuition.

They were all so talented, and I wanted a better life for them other than this sick life of murder they were all so accustomed to. It broke my heart to have to keep the animal hunting strategy from them, because I knew they would love it if they were aware of it. However, we would most likely be sentenced to death if we ever tried to adopt it.

Then, about two hundred years ago and three hundred years into my rule, the Swans were bitten. We thought nothing of this small addition to our world at the time, until they had made the decision a few years into their new ‘life’ to feed solely off of animals, becoming ‘vegetarians,’ as the Volturi so scathingly called them. I was inwardly thrilled that someone had decided to try this way of life. They lived in Northern Canada at the time, and Alice did not see them living. So we didn’t bother to look into it.

After all, there were no laws forbidding vampires to hunt animals. I was only forbidden because it was regarded upon blatantly by the Volturi, and I was the one in power – though I was wholly controlled by the three most evil vampires I had ever met. Any person in my position who decided to try and go against these three was certainly wishing for their death. But an insignificant coven of three vampires in the New World could try this lifestyle, though they were presumed to fail.

Yet here we were again, two hundred years later, and the three were still alive, and living among humans. According to Alice, the youngest, the unmarried female, had decided to go to high school, and the oldest, the male, was to be the small town’s new police chief. I could understand that. After all, I had charaded as the village doctor once.

So I had made the decision to send Felix, Demetri, Emmett and Edward to Forks. Any other ruler would have sent Jane as well, but I wasn’t that cruel. Marcus, Caius and Aro seemed to accept my decision.

Hopefully, Edward would be able to convince the young female to come back here with him and adopt our way of life, in hopes that one day they would marry. Hopefully. But if I had the free life she had, I would vehemently refuse. One never knew though, it could work.

It would have to. We needed her power.

That was my second objective in trying to convince her to come to Volterra. She had the most unique power I had ever heard of, and with any luck, Edward would be able to get past it and do some convincing of his own.